(ERGO) – Close to 200 families displaced by ongoing military operations in Jamaame in Lower Jubba are facing hunger and lack access to basic services.
Local officials said 160 families uprooted from their homes are now camping in Kismayu with little humanitarian support.
Somali and AMISOM forces launched major offensives against the militant group Al-Shabaab in Jamaame district in October, forcing families to leave their homes.
Bishar Mohamed Ibrahim, an official from Jubbaland Refugee and IDP Affairs Committee, told Radio Ergo that the families who fled Jamame district are facing a humanitarian crisis in Kismayu, the administrative capital of Jubbaland state.
“As a result of the ongoing clashes between Somali military and Al-Shabaab, most villages under Jamame district have witnessed a massive movement of people heralding new humanitarian crisis,” he said. “They are facing an acute food shortage, and they are yet to receive full aid support.”
The families fled from Bar-Sanguni, Bandar-Jadid, Muse-Haji, Wirkoy, and Komon villages under Jamame district.
According to the official, the families have received minimal handouts from Jubbaland government and two aid agencies.
“When they arrived in the town, we alerted the aid agencies in Kismayu. We had responses from Jubaland ministry for Women Affairs and ARC (American Refugee Committee), which served the IDPs with cooked food for some days. LWF (Lutheran World Federation) has also been trucking water to the IDPs,” said Ibrahim.
Hawo Mohamud Mohamed, a mother of seven, fled Komon village a week ago after fighting broke out in her village.
She has hardly been eating for two days since the little food she got from a nearby mosque finished.
“Initially I used to cook once a day but today we have nothing to eat. We were displaced by fighting in the area,” Hawo said.
“My elder sister died in the fighting. She left behind eight children. We are all here with nothing to eat,” the bereaved mother added.
Another IDP, Raba’oMoalimAbkow, arrived in Kismayu town last week after she fled her home. She has been surviving on food from a nearby mosque.
“After I arrived here I was given a half sack of rice. Now it is about to finish and I do not know how we will survive,” Raba’o said.
